Life Takes a Baby Step in a Culture of Death

Our nation was shocked and grief stricken early last week by the horrific and evil actions of a madman in Virginia whose callous disregard and utter disdain for the value of human life tragically robbed the world of 32 precious souls.

The sky seemed a blanket of darkness that mournful day, reminding us all that our lives on this earth are merely a candle’s flame, utterly vulnerable to the slightest and most unanticipated gust of wind.

Although we continue to grieve for the friends and family of the Virginia Tech victims, the darkest of clouds seemed to part toward the middle of last week — if only ever so slightly — to allow a single ray of light to pierce the veil of unfathomable violence.

It is a seemingly forgotten, self-evident truth that all of God’s children have tremendous value amid each of life’s changing seasons. Those who honor that reality received a long overdue boost in the arm on Wednesday when the Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Carhart upheld the ban on another gruesome and evil method of violent mass murder — partial birth abortion.

Although no one but Seung-Hui Cho is specifically to blame for last week’s Virginia Tech massacre, his horrific actions unfortunately reflect a larger society that regards human life as cheap and disposable.

There is much gnashing of teeth on the left right now because the court, for the first time since the infamous Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, has allowed a restriction to be placed on the phantom “right” to unfettered abortion-on-demand. Converts to the unholy church of “choice,” whose sacraments are death and violence, are fuming that the court would allow any restraint to be placed on their ability to sacrifice children at the altar of convenience.

But exactly what “constitutional right” is the pro-abortion community so steadfast to preserve?

Answer: Infanticide.

During a partial birth abortion, the abortionist pulls a fully “viable” child — often kicking and thrashing — feet first from her mother’s womb, leaving only a portion of her head in the birth canal. The abortionist then stabs her through the skull with scissors or some other sharp object, piercing her brain until her kicking and moving about suddenly and violently jerks to a halt. Her brains are then sucked out — collapsing her skull — and her now limp and lifeless body is cast away like so much garbage.

Despite the fact that the American Medical Association has determined that partial birth abortion is never necessary under any circumstances, Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and former Senator John Edwards, along with a litany of other liberal politicians, organizations and dissenting Supreme Court judges, have expressed outrage over the majority court’s decision. Their unabashed support for this grisly and extremely violent “procedure” is both inexplicable and unpardonable.

But as Justice Anthony Kennedy approaches the twilight of his spotty career on the Supreme Court, perhaps he is hoping it’s not too late to alter his legacy and distance himself from his own complicity in the millions of abortion deaths executed since 1992. At that time Kennedy, tragically and with very deadly consequences, joined the majority in Planned Parenthood v. Casey voting not to overturn Roe v. Wade.

However, after voting to uphold the partial birth abortion ban on Wednesday, and while writing for the majority in Gonzales, Kennedy’s words on the subject were uncharacteristic, providing an unexpected breath of fresh air: “The government has a legitimate, substantial interest in preserving and promoting fetal life,” wrote Kennedy. “Respect for human life finds an ultimate expression in the bond of love the mother has for her child.”

Perhaps Kennedy’s relatively new found “respect for human life” will ultimately provide a second opportunity for him to achieve further redemption by voting to overturn Roe v. Wade when the opportunity presents itself again in the future.

But until that time, the horrific events at Virginia Tech last week should give Kennedy and all of us pause to reflect upon the truly invaluable nature of all human life. We should never let ourselves forget the ghastly and profound lack of “respect for human life” we witnessed as one man exercised his “choice” to end 32 precious lives at Virginia Tech. And we should also be willing to admit to ourselves that we as a nation have shared in that lack of respect for human life by turning a blind eye to the massacre of over forty million equally precious lives post Roe v. Wade.

Make no mistake; Cho now stands before God and faces eternal judgment for his choices and actions. As individuals, we too will stand before God once our flame has flickered away. But as a nation, we can only be judged in this world. And though the Gonzales decision is an encouraging step in the right direction, unless we work to put an end to the shameful abortion blight that continues to plague our nation, how much longer do we suppose that God, the Creator of the very lives we destroy, will “choose” to withhold His judgment upon us?

Matt Barber is founder and editor-in chief of BarbWire.com. He is an author, columnist, cultural analyst and an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. Having retired as an undefeated heavyweight professional boxer, Matt has taken his fight from the ring to the culture war. (Follow Matt on Twitter: @jmattbarber).

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